Young people less likely to vote, study shows

Graphic by EMMA REITH, Art Director

Freshman David Segovia said he doesn’t really care about voting. The process is “mundane and inconvenient,” he said, and more people would vote if they didn’t have to leave the house, waste gas money and wait in line.

“I was forced to register,” Segovia, a business administration major, said. “The guy who walks around in Argyros Forum wouldn’t leave me alone unless I registered. I was just there to get my bagel.”

Younger generations now make up the majority of eligible voters, according to the Pew Research Center, and 59 percent of eligible voters are part of Gen X, millennials or Gen Z. But younger generations cast 21 million fewer votes in the 2014 midterm elections. At Chapman, only around 15 percent of students voted in the 2014 midterm elections.

Heidi Stabbert, a freshman health science major, said she knows many students her age who still have not registered to vote. Change may be on the horizon, though, since young people’s lack of interest in politics has sparked Stabbert’s passionate involvement in American politics.

“I’ve heard my sister say on so many occasions ‘I don’t like to read the news or get involved in that kind of stuff because there’s too much tension,’” Stabbert said. “I just think younger people should be more involved because it’s our future. It makes me angry that older people with very different viewpoints are controlling our future.”

Arthur Blaser, a Chapman political science and peace studies professor, said he believes that the conflict associated with politics is what keeps many people away from the polls. People would rather distract themselves as a way to “escape” politics, he said.

“A lot of people vote because it’s our social responsibility, but many are frightened of that responsibility and instead, numb themselves through various means,” Blaser said. “A lot of things need changing. There could be more active involvement in politics across all age groups, even in those who are more likely to vote.”

Sixty-one percent of Democrats and Democratic leaners and 58 percent of Republicans and Republican leaners are more enthusiastic about voting this November, according to a 2018 Gallup poll, and neither party has not expressed this much political enthusiasm since 1994. However, these studies don’t mean people will vote come Nov. 6. In fact, only 26 percent of young adults, ages 18-29, are absolutely certain they will vote.

“I think voting is important because people are fighting and dying in other parts of the world for free and fair elections, voting rights and democracy,” said Evan Frangesh, a junior music and percussion performance major. “When people are born with (voting) privileges, they can be taken for granted. Oftentimes, people don’t care enough to vote.”

Camille Toomey, an undeclared freshman, said that Uber will be offering $10 off rides to polls on election day. Voting is a platform for people’s voices to be heard, Toomey said. People might think that their votes aren’t actually going to change anything, but the fact is nothing will change if people don’t vote, she said.

“Get off your lazy (expletive) and go vote you stupid millennials and Gen Zers,” Toomey said. “Just kidding, I’m a Gen Z. But seriously, go vote.”